A whole day has gone by ever since Frisk began training Gunnhildr. Thanks to that, nearly everyone else wanted to learn how to use a sword. Frisk, like the helpful human they are, is willing to help everyone how to protect themselves, but unlike their mother Toriel, Frisk is not going easy on them.
"Hey! Your movement is shallow! Fix that with more speed!"
"Yes sir!"
The person whose movement looked weak now increased as it seemed like he was fully committed to doing even harder.
"You! Your arm holding is low, enemies will take that advantage by hurting your top body! You're not just guarding an attack, but you're also guarding your full body!"
"Yes sir!"
The next person who didn't guard the property fixed his arms so it looked like he could block an incoming blade.
"Don't think I forgot about you! Your fear has overtaken your body, causing you doubt! Swallow that fear and allow bravery and determination all over you!"
"Yes sir!"
The other person, who looked terrified, listened to Frisk's advice as she did exactly that. As if in an instant, she became a whole new person.
"Now everybody! Let me hear your roar!"
"YES SIR!!!"
Everyone let out their roars as it made one huge roar. It echoes throughout the cave and lasts for a few seconds until it dies down. If someone was asleep, then they would no doubt wake up from that roar.
"Wow! I expected everyone to show a bit of determination, but to think they all show this much all together."
Chara watches on as they are teaching two people how to use daggers. Not many wanted to use a dagger and Chara didn't expect much. People have their preferences after all.
"As expected of my instructor! His teaching is limitless!"
Gunnhildr smiled proudly at Frisk who she claims as her instructor.
"Gunnhildr, aren't you supposed to be training? You're just watching Frisk training your people."
Chara asked in confusion as they just saw her admiring Frisk. Just admiration, nothing more, at least in their eyes.
"Well… I just wanted Frisk to personally instruct me more. But he just simply left me to do 100 swings!"
To Chara's surprise, she pouted, as if Frisk was neglecting her after a whole day of training. Chara was wondering why she felt that way; was it because she felt that her whole light was dimmed only to be delighted by Frisk's personality? Or was it something more? If that was the case… Then perhaps Barbatos might not be the only person she worships.
"Hey! Gunnhildr! Why are you slacking off! That's 200 more swings for you!"
"My apologies sir!"
Frisk noticed her not doing what they requested her to do, so like all leaders, they showed no mercy to those who did not listen. And so Gunnhildr did exactly just that, only for her to hiss as their arms were sore from all the swinging. She hadn't even reached the goal.
"Do you think I'm a bit hard on her?"
Frisk asked Chara as they walked to their side. They couldn't help but feel that they were putting Gunnhildr's training a bit too much. Chara, however, looks at their twin with a blank expression.
"You call her out for her lacking, ordering her to do more swings which show results in front of you, and you had the nerve to ask me if that you're doing a bit 'hard'?"
Frisk just sighs as they realize their wording. They just sat down feeling down, Chara noticed this and spoke softly.
"She's your student isn't she?"
"She wanted to become my student after her training. She's very determined to protect everyone, even the ones who don't know her. I respect that, it really reminds me of myself. But I have never taught or taken in a student before, and she's my first ever student."
They sigh once more as they see her quickly recover before doing the remaining swings.
"I just don't know if I'm cut off from being a teacher. Mom is a teacher but that's just for learning. Dad personally trained Undyne, and it got her to be the captain of the Royal Guard. She then trained Papyrus, even though it was only cooking. …That spaghetti still tastes great."
Frisk suddenly wished they'd packed spaghetti, they felt hungry just by thinking about it. But did wonder how they and Undyne had burned her house down. Chara chuckled at the mention of Papyrus.
"You know, it makes me wonder just what would have happened if that dog didn't steal his 'special attack'."
"Yeah, but back to the topic. I was only an ambassador, and I had training in case I needed to protect myself from those who wanted to hurt me just because I associate with monsters. Will it be enough not just for Gunnhildr, but for everyone else?"
Chara wanted to say that they're a good teacher, but they knew just from them alone wouldn't be enough.
"It's enough, even if you don't think so, it's the best they all have for someone who knows swordsmanship. Honestly, I am surprised by the work they all are putting into it."
An unfamiliar voice spoke out and it made the two outsiders jump. They turn to see a handsome man with bright red hair, a fur leather coat, red eyes, and white skin. For Chara, they felt an intense amount of seriousness in the man, while Frisk felt an unwavering determination.
They also noticed that Ventus was back but with another group of people. But it looks like they all are more prepared for the blizzard. As if they all had way more experience in surviving such a weather disaster.
"Hey guys! I'm back! And I brought more people!"
Ventus immediately noticed one of the people he brought back was chatting with Frisk and Chara. He excitedly rushed over to the three and joined in the convocation, only for him to act like he had been left out.
"Are you three talking without me? I'm hurt!"
Chara snorted as they lightly pushed Ventus a bit, he didn't mind what Chara just did as he knew that they were just playing around.
"Well, Frisk was wondering if they are a good teacher for everyone."
"Frisk? What do you mean by that? Of course, you're a good teacher. You have no idea how much Gunnhildr was talking about how much of an excellent teacher you are. It's like she's way too worked up to even take a rest."
He pointed at Gunnhildr who now seems like her arms are about to fall off from all the swinging but perseveres to the 300 mark. She then slowly turns to Frisk, awaiting more orders, like a learnaholic.
"Frisk, if you don't force her to take a break right now, then I'll have to do it by brute force."
Chara threatened as they knew it was not normal for anyone who had their arms so worn out and were still willing to do more after all that effort. Chara has never met a human like Gunnhildr who was willing to do more, making them wonder how much more are humans capable of.
"Got it! Hey, Gunnhildr, take a break, I recommend a long break."
But Gunnhildr didn't seem to want to rest at all and seemed like she was considering doing more swings or asking Frisk to spar with her. But Chara slowly raised their fist, showing that they were not kidding about the threat Frisk immediately went to her as they tried to convince her to at least rest for a while.
Chara sighs as they look back to the red-haired man.
"Hey, I forgot to ask for your name."
The man simply spoke as he offered a handshake.
"Heh, I was wondering if someone was going to ask. I am Scharlach, I am from the city of Mondstadt."
"Nice to meet you, Scharlach; I'm Chara Dreemurr. And the person talking to the blondie is my twin Frisk Dreemurr."
Chara returns the handshake as they simply watch Frisk barely convince Gunnhildr to rest as she begrudgingly did so not before making them swear that they'll train with her again. Frisk just sighs as they agree.
They just walk back as Chara lowers their fist. As they introduce Frisk to Scharlach. They, too, shake hands with him.
"So, did the conditions in Monstadt get you to leave? I'm surprised that it took this long for anyone to endure this much suffering."
Chara asked as they knew that there must be something that would have made the man leave, anybody could have at this point, but the storm out there (like many times before) was bad for anyone to survive. But saw that this man was preparing for such a weather condition, so why did he leave?
"Honestly, you are correct Mr. Dreemurr. But that is not simply easy for anyone in Mondstadt to do. Decarabian power can prevent the blizzard outside the city but that does not mean we are fully safe inside. His tyrant causes many to shake in fear if they dare fight back, that includes leaving the city, the storms that surround the city can hurt us if we're not careful."
He took a glance at the new group he was with before continuing.
"A few years ago, a large group of people tried to immigrate somewhere else in hopes of finding refuge only to be stopped by Decarabian himself. The storms alerted him of the number of people trying to leave the city, and he showed no mercy in throwing them back into the city. He watches the people very carefully."
He took another glance at the group of people that Frisk and Chara are familiar with.
"The group you're training with, Mr. Dreemurr (Frisk), was lucky to have made it out of there. Decarabian would have never allowed them to leave Mondstadt had it not been for his own arrogance and the fact that he was focusing on his lover."
"Wait… Somebody actually loves the God of Storms?"
Chara asked in astonishment mixed with shock. Had it been a monster it wouldn't be too surprising for them, but for a god who is a tyrant in his own city. It sounds too unlikely.
"I can understand your doubt, Mr. Dreemurr, but it is true: Decarabian has a human lover named Amos. I honestly don't know why she fell in love with him but they are lovers. But at the same time, I do not believe that Decarabian understands human emotions, including love. I believe his view of love is different from what she believes."
"That does make sense. I doubt that he even understands what his actions have brought to the people of Mondstadt. That also counts Boreas, Gunnhildr's people could have died in that blizzard had Barbatos not responded to their prayers. Speaking of the blizzard…"
Chara slowly turns their head to the new group of people who are getting along with the current group. It already seems like they are all eager to help out with the rebellion. Plus, their gear seems like they can handle blizzards, which means that they've been out there longer than what Gunnhildr and her people had to put up.
Scharlach: "Ah, it seems I need to clarify. These people are pioneers who came from outside the land, who have settled down outside of Mondstadt, and unlike the other group, these ones survived the harsh blizzard as they know how to navigate around the harsh cold."
Chara turns to see the new group, and their eye catches a particular person, a woman. She has light blue hair, which reminds them of the Patience SOUL, the left eye purple, the right eye yellow, a bit of pale skin, and she is tall. Chara notices she's different from everyone else.
"So people who immigrated from… Do you happen to know where they fled from?"
"I asked one of the people, and it seems they immigrated from the land of Snezhnaya. From what I was able to gather, it seems the blizzard there is way worse than what we have to deal with. It makes sense as it was known just a year ago that the Cryo Archon took the fourth seat of the Seven."
"The Cryo Archon."
Chara said as they glanced at the snowstorm, wondering just how much worse the Snezhnaya blizzard was compared to Mondstadt and Snowdin.
"We're just lucky that only two gods are fighting each other; our next-door nation, Liyue, has many gods fighting each other. The land of Liyue was lucky that the Geo Archon and his trusted allies fought to protect their people. From what I heard it was worse than what we're dealing with right now."
"TheChinese word for Glazed Moon? And here we are, planning to fight a god that is fighting another god. While our next-door neighbor just went through so much worse than any of us could have imagined. And if you manage to hear that then it must mean…"
"Exactly, I have just come back from Liyue, just barely survived. I'm thankful that the Deputy of Justice was able to save me."
"Deputy of Justice? You mean a cowboy?"
Frisk spoke as they glanced at their bag which carries different items they collected during their adventure in the underground.
"Seems like you know the title of his. Anyways, his name is Sanyecao, from what I was able to hear from him was that if it wasn't for him and his strange yellow heart, a few of the Geo Archon's allies would have perished at the beginning of the Archon War. The people said that he's part human and part Adeptis."
"Sanyecao, justice, yellow heart… Could it be!"
Chara suddenly recalled overhearing their adopted brother mentioning Clover to Frisk as they/he was the human who fell before Frisk. The one who willingly gave up their SOUL, the SOUL of Justice, just for monsters to feel that they are closer to freedom. And the owner of the Cowboy Hat and the Empty Gun.
If Sanyecao is the Clover that fell in the underground years before… Then does that mean he was also brought to Teyvat through reincarnation? If so,.. Could that be the same for the other humans who fell? Frisk also had the same thought as they recalled the conversation they had with Asriel.
Scharlach went to speak with Ventus as he left Chara to their thoughts. He can tell that Chara was a bit familiar with the person he spoke about and decided to let them think and choose if they wanted to tell him what they knew; it seems someone wanted to talk to them.
While Chara was thinking of this, the woman Chara was looking at turned around, noticed them, and walked toward them. She lightly taps them on their shoulder and snaps them out of their thoughts as they notice the woman.
"Oh! Hello."
"You're the dagger person everyone wouldn't stop talking about. Out of anybody who could wield a weapon, a dagger was surprising to my people. More importantly, someone like yourself."
Chara wasn't sure if they should take that as a compliment or an insult. But they at least be patient and talk with the woman.
"Do you normally see people wielding swords?"
"During our way here, yes. You could see a few with bows and spears, you can only see one or two people wielding a dagger or a knife."
"Well, you're not wrong Miss…"
"Venerare. My name is Venerare, Mr. Dreemurr. And the reason why I came to you personally is because I like to ask you to teach me how to fight with a dagger."
Chara stares at Venerare with a surprising yet strange look. They can tell this woman isn't going to be another Gunnhildr who basically pursues learning everything fast, Venerare looks at them patiently as if they are willingly learning slowly and steadily.
They took a glance at Frisk, who said nothing and walked back to Gunnhildr to ensure that she stayed rested. And like they predicted Gunnhildr tried to grab her sword and continue to train, only for Frisk to grab it and keep it away from her while ignoring her protest.
"Is there a reason why you like to know how to use a dagger? It's pretty simple for anyone to use, even a knife."
"It really does, but a few people have spoken of how skillful you are, not to mention your skills as a dagger user are clearly different from any others. For one, nobody can black a longer blade with a short blade, even if you have the strength or not. Two, even if the blade is short, you always hit your target. And three your movement matches a speedster."
Chara can understand what Venerare is saying, they can block other attacks even when the blade is short, and with enough training and learning the movement of opponents, they can find a spot to strike. Finally, they improve their speed to ensure that their strikes always hit before they react or block.
"You seem determined and patient to learn from me."
"We obviously didn't join this rebellion just for us to expect to win against a god. We all need to at least know how to fight and protect. Mondstadt is a place where we all believe where we can live. And if we want it to change, why not join this army and make Mondstadt a better place for everybody."
Chara didn't say anything until they threw Venerare an old-looking dagger that seemed to be from the supplies. She caught the dagger as they saw Chara walking away but signaled her to follow them as she did so. She followed them until they stopped as they pointed the short blade at her.
"We'll start with the basics. It's easy, but it will let me know if you have the potential to learn my skills."
"Understood teacher! I'll make sure to meet your expectations!"
They honestly hope that she stays patient and not be another learnaholic. But they can somehow know that Frisk will wish they had someone like Venerare who is not way too enthusiastic. Still, at least they'll know Frisk's struggle as a teacher.